The extent of Viking settlement in Britain

1 December 2016

Research involving the
Institute's Jane Kershaw draws into question the findings of a recent study
regarding the extent of Viking settlement in Britain.

Last year, the People of the
British Isles (PoBI) project claimed to reveal the extent of first millennium
AD human migrations into Britain. Combining large-scale, local DNA sampling
with innovative data analysis, the project generated a survey of the genetic
structure of Britain in unprecedented detail.

One of the most popularly-cited
results was the striking claim that the Danish Vikings, in contrast to the
Anglo-Saxons, made only a modest demographic impact on modern British genetic
diversity. This key finding appeared to settle one of the longest-standing
questions in early medieval archaeology: the extent of Viking settlement in
Britain.

the failure to recognise that the Danes and
Anglo-Saxons originated from the same geographic area, and are thus
impossible to distinguish genetically, and

the fact that the study’s estimated date of
Anglo-Saxon ‘admixture’ (interbreeding with the native population)
post-dates the Anglo-Saxon migrations by 400 years, and sits squarely
within the period of Viking activity in Britain.

The authors offer alternative
interpretations, to suggest that the genetic legacy of Danish Vikings in
Britain might well be substantial. Drawing on new artefactual and linguistic
evidence they argue for a significant Danish Viking presence in England,
comprising not just warriors, but entire family groups.

They have also employed a new
quantitative approach to illustrate absolute numbers of migrants using two
different starting points (population proportion and Viking metalwork items).
This is, to their knowledge, the first time that total numbers of Viking
settlers in England have been scientifically estimated.

Ellen C. Royrvik is a geneticist
while Jane Kershaw is a Viking-Age archaeologist and are thus in a unique position to
comment on the method employed in the POBI study.